Occurrence and Molecular Characterization of Potentially Pathogenic Vibrio spp. in Seafood Collected in Sicily

Seafood can vehiculate foodborne illnesses from water to humans. Climate changes, increasing water contamination and coastlines anthropization, favor the global spread of spp. and the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant isolates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spread of potentially pathogenic spp. in fishery products collected in Sicily and to assess their antibiotic resistance. Bacteriological and molecular methods were applied to 603 seafood samples to detect , , , and in order to assess their pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance. About 30% of bivalves and 20% of other fishery products were contaminated by spp.; accounted for 43/165 isolates, 3 of which were carrying either or ; accounted for 12/165 isolates, all of them non-O1 non-O139 and none carrying virulence genes; and accounted for 5/165 isolates. The highest rates of resistance were observed for ampicillin, but we also detected strains resistant to antibiotics currently included among the most efficient against spp. In spite of their current low incidence, their rise might pose further issues in treating infections; hence, these results stress the need for a continuous monitoring of antimicrobial resistance among fishery products and an effective risk assessment.